The Wesleyan Connection

Mary Alice Haddad says that the election of the Democratic Party of Japan, and more particularly the relegation of the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party to opposition status, promises to shake up long-standing political patterns in that country. (Photo by Stefan Weinberger '10)

The candidate for issue’s “5 Questions with…” is Mary Alice Haddad, assistant professor of government, assistant professor of East Asian studies. She provides some insight into the recent, dramatic change in the Japanese government.

Q: What are your primary areas of study and research?

MAH: My primary area of research has been on civil society and democracy with a focus on Japan. I am beginning a new research project on environmental politics in East Asia. I am particularly interested in the ways that local politics around environmental issues can lead toward greater citizen participation in democratic as well as nondemocratic countries.

Q: How did you become interested in these areas?

MAH: I have been fascinated by the differences in the ways that Japanese and Americans experience democracy in different ways in their local communities and what that means for our broader understandings of democracy and democratic development.

Q: How significant are the recent changes in the Japanese government?

MAH: Extremely significant. Japanese politics has been undergoing profound transformation over the past two decades, and the election of the (more…)

Melanye Price. (Photo by Chion Wolf)

Melanye Price, assistant professor of government, was a featured guest speaker for the University of Nevada’s College of Liberal Arts on April 23. She was broadcast on 88.9 KNPR Nevada Public Radio.

In a lecture titled “Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African-American Public Opinion,” Price spoke about ways African-Americans have come to understand Black Nationalism, an ideology important to the Black Power movement of the 1960s.